Forza 5 – Preview

During the weekend at EB Expo, we had the chance to preview the latest game in the Forza series on the upcoming Xbox One. Unfortunately, Mount Panorama was unavailable to test so we got stuck with my most hated track, Laguna Seca.

The entire feel of the car was amazing and while driving, it was both enjoyable and challenging throughout the entire preview. It felt as though the car was pulling against the driver as the car decided whether to take the corner or slide around it. All racing game fans know of the dreaded chicane in Laguna Seca, and the car dug in deep while pulling through those corners especially well. With the improvements to the Xbox One’s controller from the 360’s, it was great to feel the rumble of the triggers as you had to brake hard or accelerate off the start line, and all of this just adds to the experience. In turn, this is pushing gamers one step closer to actually driving a real race car.

Another feature that has been improved on is the lighting effects while driving. If you are driving into the sun, you will see glare effects directly in your face, and it will be harder to drive or predict whats coming. The HUD also seems pretty minimal, only displaying the important information and keeping the immersion as high as possible.

There’s a tremendous amount of detail that has been added to both the exterior and interior of the car that enhances your experience. All the menus and extra buttons that would be in the real car have been added, and while they don’t seem to be interactive, they have made the best view in the game even better. The exterior damage visuals have also been upgraded. After listening to an interview with one of the developers at the expo, they stated that they have used multiple layers of paint that can be broken down by the layer, making some of your mistakes or collisions more noticeable. It was also mentioned that the team at Turn 10 Studios wanted the cars to look like they were well-worn after an enduring race, and the damage upgrades really reflect that.
The only thing that would have added to the experience was if I was actually sitting down in a seat with a steering wheel in my hand, as force feedback driving seems to be highly prevalent in the game. If you want to get a racing game that offers the most realistic driving experience, then you will want to pick up Forza 5. After playing the other racing games around EB Expo (there were a few), this one seems to take the cake. As a racing game fan I loved Forza 5 and with the added bonus of getting FIFA 14 with the Xbox One, it might just pull me into buying one at launch.

Forza Motorsport 5 releases on the 22nd of November, exclusively with the launch of the Xbox One.

Kochie has been geeking out and gaming since he was 6. He's a PC elitist, but still plays all the consoles and holds gameplay over graphics any day of the week. When he isn't writing about his adventures, he's fixing PC's and drinking a lot of coffee. You can find him on Twitter @KochieAU.

Kif12345

“the most realistic driving experience”

Dude Forza 5 is not a simulator, Never was. I played it at Gamescom and imo cars feels like they were sliding on ice. And you can turn in tight corners at high speed with even hitting to much the breaks. The driving physics were terrible.

Kif12345

“the most realistic driving experience”

Dude Forza 5 is not a simulator, Never was. I played it at Gamescom and imo cars feels like they were sliding on ice. And you can turn in tight corners at high speed with even hitting to much the breaks. The driving physics were terrible.